11:06Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
TrendForce Expects RAM Prices to Surge in the Fourth Quarter of 2026
TrendForce expects RAM prices to rise sharply in the fourth quarter of 2026. According to the company, the supply of DRAM chips used for RAM remains very limited. Preliminary contract negotiations with manufacturers also indicate that prices will increase. Demand is being driven mainly by large cloud service companies in the US, as their data centers need an increasing number of memory chips.
A source at YMTC, one of China’s major memory chip manufacturers, says the global shortage will continue for at least another 3 years. The company has already raised chip prices and is prioritizing more profitable products in production. However, this is not an official statement from YMTC but information attributed to a company employee. The long-term forecast should therefore be treated with caution.
The price increases may not be limited to RAM. The reports also mention NAND memory chips produced by YMTC. These chips are the main components that store files in SSDs. YMTC trails only Samsung and SK Hynix in the global NAND market. The company’s pricing and production decisions could therefore also affect the SSD market.
According to some earlier forecasts, the volume of NAND chips entering the market was expected to balance with demand in the second half of next year. The YMTC employee’s comments cast doubt on that possibility. DDR5 RAM prices in Germany have risen by 544% compared with the period before the crisis. Further price increases in the fourth quarter could drive up costs even more for those looking to build a computer, increase their RAM capacity, or buy an SSD.
Other analysts and industry executives also believe the memory crisis could continue until the end of the decade. Nvidia’s CEO is among them. Nevertheless, the 3-year timeline is not an official YMTC forecast and is based on information leaked by a company employee. The general market expectation is that RAM and SSD prices will rise again during the rest of this year and next year.